06 March 2016

Book Review | Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

I didn't actually intend to review this particular book here on the blog -- about 1/3 to 1/2 of the books I read will just get a few stars and maybe a quick paragraph or two on Goodreads, especially backlist stuff that I'm not reading for a particular challenge/event.

But I've been in a little bit of a reading slump lately. Not that I'm not reading, because I am, but I've been taking it pretty slow, plus I just don't have much to say about what I'm reading. So maybe it's more like a reviewing slump. So when I felt like blathering on just a little bit about Ready Player One, I figured I'd better seize that feeling and run with it!

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My husband received this book a few months ago in his Loot Crate, a monthly subscription box that delivers themed "loot" for geeks -- he's gotten all kinds of things, from a Fallout Vault Boy bobblehead to a World of Warcraft hearthstone stress ball thing. Now our dog gets a monthly box (Loot Pets), too, and they get matching t-shirts. It's adorable.

Anyhow, mi esposo really enjoyed Ready Player One, and even though our taste in books doesn't always match up he was pretty sure that I'd like it, too.

Plus, get this: Spielberg is working on a movie based on this book, due out in 2018!

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But... I almost DNF'd this book before I even got through the first couple chapters. It starts off like just another YA dystopia, all doom and gloom and "energy crisis" this and "giant evil tech corporations" that. Which, y'know, I get it. The human species is slowly suiciding and taking this little planet with it, yes, OK, but after a while the dystopia fatigue starts to set in. And the beginning of Ready Player One seemed to me like just another teenager bemoaning the predictably broken state of the world... which I was frankly just not in the mood to pay attention to.

Anyway, I'm glad I continued on with it. Once the plot picks up, the pacing and tension and character development help keep it moving and make the book pretty hard to put down. There are a lot (A LOT) of fun references to 1980's pop culture -- not just video/arcade games, like you'd expect with a title like Ready Player One, but also tabletop games, movies and TV, music (lots and lots and lots of music), and technology.

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My only real complaint is the unnecessary amount of exposition, especially at the beginning of the story. And listen, I'm normally one of those readers who loves exposition. I can't resist a carefully built, detailed world, and I don't do well with stories are so plot-centric that they have barely a sketch of a setting/history. So, you know the exposition must be pretty excessive if even Louise is getting tired of it. The first quarter or so of the book is like 90% infodumping!

I'm also not sure how to categorize this book for my review index. I think it is being marketed mainly as an adult SFF because the whole focus on 1980's pop culture probably appeals mainly to grown-ups who lived through that time period. But the age of the characters, some of the experiences they go through, and the kind of "stick it to The Man" mentality are all very YA-ish. Anyway, Ready Player One did get an Alex Award for "books written for adults that have special appeal to young adults" from the American Library Association's YALSA group, so I guess it really does have some serious crossover appeal.